


Family Matters

by MechBull



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 15:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14115333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MechBull/pseuds/MechBull
Summary: Post ep for 5x14. The others notice a shift in the relationship between Deke and Simmons.





	Family Matters

**Author's Note:**

> I understand there are spoilers for the next ep. I don’t know or WANT to know them, so don’t worry about being spoiled here. Any similarities to future scenes are purely coincidental.

There had been an almost tangible cloud of despair and grief hanging over the Lighthouse since…well, since. Coulson was still struggling with everything that happened, and he wondered if he had – been there, if he had been paying more attention, if he – 

If he had never brought them into the field in the first place. Daisy would be in her van somewhere. Fitz-Simmons would be nerding out in a lab. All of them would have been safe and whole, presumably even happy. And he wouldn’t have to be worrying about any of them. He wouldn’t feel like he had to choose sides. Daisy was the daughter he never had, and he was furious and devastated and – but Fitz. Fitz who tried so hard, who was pushed to the breaking point, pushed by Coulson himself. And poor Simmons, who by all rights should be on her honeymoon and now…

He glanced over at the sound of someone entering the control room. As if on cue, it was Simmons. She held a cup of tea in one hand and a plate of food in another, and she looked wrecked. Coulson wondered if she’d been sleeping. Fitz wasn’t the only one who’d suffered more trauma than any one person should have to. The last thing anyone needed was Simmons breaking down too. 

He was just about to tell her to take it easy and go get some sleep when he noticed she was heading straight for Deke.

Their visitor from the future was seated at the station that Fitz had been using until – well, until he ended up in isolation. (Coulson knew, of course, that what he really needed was to talk to a professional, not to be left alone with his own thoughts. Not for the first time he wished that Andrew was still around.) But anyway, Deke seemed to have claimed the spot as his own. Coulson watched as Simmons walked closer. He wondered for a second if it was habit, if she expected Fitz to be there, and if she would stop in her tracks when she realized her mistake. If her face would go stony and her eyes glassy like they had so many times in the last few days. 

But she wasn’t bothered at all. In fact, she had apparently meant to go to Deke. Coulson watched as she offered him a small smile, and then put the plate on the table in front of him. Deke looked at it, then up at her with furrowed brows, then back at the food, and then at Simmons again.

Simmons’ smile grew wider, even as she stole the pickle spear off the plate. Coulson could just barely hear her say “Eat. You’re skin and bones.”

Deke grinned, snorting a bit in amusement. He ducked his head as he picked up the sandwich. He took a small bite, almost curling in on himself with an unreadable sort of pleasure. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he murmured after he swallowed, as if it was some kind of inside joke. 

_Hmmm_ , Coulson thought.

**

Elena walked slowly, savoring the opportunity to be out of that damn hospital bed. She had stopped calling Mack her jailer when Fitz got locked up. It was not so funny anymore. But that didn’t mean she liked feeling useless.

In a way, she hoped they didn’t break the loop this time, because she didn’t want them all to live with the things Fitz had done. Maybe next time around, he would make different decisions. Maybe that was the version they should hope for. 

At Mack’s sigh, she looked over and up and up and up, smiling to herself at how tall he was. It always caught her off-guard. She reached out to hold his hand as they walked. 

Her arm was extended before she remembered there was no hand attached to it. She nearly stumbled but managed to hide her reaction. Mack looked down at her with a curious face, and she smiled, shrugged, pretended everything was fine. They turned the corner and stopped suddenly when they spotted Jemma and Deke at the other end of the hallway. 

The others did not see them, and Elena watched as Jemma tucked hair behind her ear and then reached out to pull Deke into a hug. They held each other for longer than Elena would have guessed. When they backed away, Jemma looked happier. 

They walked away then. Elena looked up at Mack, who was still looking forward.

“I am glad he is helping her,” she observed. “But I am a little surprised.”

Mack chuckled. “Me too.” 

Elena moved then to continue their walk. Mack followed a step or two later. 

“Have you been to see him?”

“Once.”

“And…?”

“He wouldn’t look at me.”

Elena sighed, wishing again she could hold his hand. “Keep trying.”

**

Piper hurried down the hall, her half of the equipment weighing her down more than she cared to admit. But she was still atoning, and she’d do anything they asked. Davis was just behind her. Things were actually OK between them. She had apologized for leaving him for dead. He yelled at her for betraying the others. Then they punched each other in the arm, nervously shifted back and forth a few times, and wordlessly agreed to never speak of it again.

Piper preferred it that way. Emotions…confused her. 

Take this, for example, she thought somewhat wryly as they entered the storage room where the equipment was supposed to go. Deke and Simmons were in there, laughing their asses off. Piper didn’t know how Simmons could find anything so funny right now, but she was literally off balance, leaning against Deke as she struggled for breath.

“What’s so funny?” Davis asked.

“Oh!” Jemma gasped in surprise. “Hello. Didn’t see you come in.”

“Everything OK?” Piper asked, stepping around Davis to finally drop her load of supplies. They fell to the ground with a clatter, and Piper sent up a prayer that nothing had broken.

“Just…telling stories,” Deke said, smirking.

“What time is it?” Simmons asked suddenly, twisting to look at the wall clock. “Oh! I should – yes, I need to – please excuse me.”

She dragged herself to her feet, and Deke popped up after her. They shouted out goodbyes and then were gone. If she had been alone, Piper might have doubted they’d even been in there.

“You think maybe Simmons is cracking too?” Davis asked, more than a bit warily. 

Piper scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

**

For some reason, Daisy had trouble walking down the hall these days unless she kept one hand on the wall, sliding it lightly along. It kept her balanced, or heading straight, or upright, or something. She just needed to feel grounded. Maybe it was because she could barely see through the constantly threatening tears. Maybe it was because she wanted to feel the comforting underlying vibrations that indicated all was fine and she was _not_ about to quake apart the base. Or the world.

Her hand caught slightly on the doorframe as she entered the medical exam room. When she realized she was not alone, she blinked once to clear the moisture away and then again in surprise.

Jemma and Deke were standing in the corner, facing each other and squeezing each other’s hands in between them. Deke looked thrilled, and Jemma looked sort of sick and sort of happy, and neither one of them made much sense.

“What’s going on?” Daisy asked, her voice croaking slightly from lack of use. Or perhaps all the crying. 

Jemma startled, turning to face her and then immediately away again. She dropped Deke’s hands and reached out to the tablet resting on the exam table. Daisy watched as Jemma deleted two different test results from the screen, but she was too far away to read what they said. 

“Oh, nothing. Just confirming one of Deke’s suspicions and one of my mine.”

It didn’t really clear anything up, but Daisy nodded anyway.

“How are you?” Jemma asked then. “Is something – ?”

Daisy waved one hand towards her neck. “Stitch popped.”

“Oh!” 

And then Jemma was suddenly all business. She hurried Daisy over to the exam table, already inspecting her as they moved. As she climbed onto the table, Daisy glanced at Deke again. He gave her a grim smile, then left the room. When he passed them, he quickly brushed a hand across Jemma’s shoulder, but Jemma was too single-minded to notice.

Daisy watched curiously as he left the room.

**

“What?! Why Deke?!” Simmons demanded, her voice oddly high-pitched as she followed Coulson around the command room.

May was silent. 

“What do you mean?” Coulson replied. “Mack and Davis are already on a mission, and I don’t trust Piper alone yet. We’re down Yo-Yo and – and Daisy. Deke is my only option.”

“Oh, thanks,” Deke replied sarcastically, as usual. “Appreciate the vote of confidence.”

May said nothing.

“But…” Simmons continued, seeming to struggle for an objection. “He’s – he’s untrained. He’s not a field agent.”

“We’ll risk it. Deke, go with May,” Coulson said. 

May finally spoke. “Wheels up in five.”

Simmons huffed loudly. May watched as Deke pushed off the desk he was leaning against and walked over to her. She watched as he bent down and kissed Simmons’ cheek, and assured her he’d be fine. She watched as he made his way closer to May herself, stopping in front of her and waiting for more instructions.

Wordlessly, May turned and headed toward the hangar. She heard Deke’s steps behind her, but she didn’t comment again until they were in the cockpit and taking off.

“I don’t know what that kiss was about,” she warned, “but be careful with Simmons.”

He whirled to face her. “What? Ew! What are you implying? _Ew!_ ”

 _Ew?_ May glared at him. How dare he? As if – she shook her head, trying to maintain focus. “She’s vulnerable right now, but she will never stop loving Fitz. No matter what.”

“Good!” Deke declared emphatically. “I am very, very glad to hear that!”

“OK,” May said, nodding once to end the conversation.

“OK!” Deke repeated, facing forward with a little shudder.

**

He wasn’t asleep. He was pretty sure he had finally gotten enough sleep to rid himself of the bone-deep exhaustion that had been plaguing him. And this last time he had been out, he hadn’t even needed a pill from Jemma to quieten…everything…enough for him to sleep. So, no, he wasn’t asleep, but he was stretched out on the mattress, his hands clasped on top of his stomach and his eyes closed as he thought. Or tried not to think, maybe.

So, it was the sound of footsteps that alerted him to someone else’s presence. It was probably Jemma. Coulson had been there once, not quite convincing as he nodded a few times and promised everything would be fine. He hadn’t seen her but Jemma told him May had been there too, guarding him as he slept. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at Mack when he had limped down there. Daisy of course had never visited him, and he didn’t blame her. 

So, really, there was no one else it could be. Jemma was the only one who came to see him more than once. But there were two different gaits, which was unusual enough to force Fitz’s eyes open. He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the cot and bracing himself with his arms. He looked up to see who it was, and was rather surprised to see Deke hovering nervously, almost puppy-like, just over Jemma’s shoulder. 

Fitz couldn’t find the words to greet them, and then was too shocked to speak when Deke looked around, and then hurried over to the door to his cell. Moments later, the door opened. Fitz jumped to his feet in alarm. 

Focused as he was on Deke, he hadn’t seen Jemma move and so was rather surprised when she was the one who entered. 

“Thank you, Deke,” she said. 

His only reply, as he walked away, was to wave some device at her, whatever smuggler kit he’d had that allowed him to bypass the multiple locks and alarms that Fitz had insisted on and the rest certainly hadn’t objected to. 

“You shouldn’t be in here,” Fitz said, his heart racing in fear for her. 

“Too late,” Jemma said, smiling softly. “It’s done.”

“Jemma – ”

She walked closer to him, reaching out and taking his hand and pulling him back to the bed. They sat side by side, their backs to the wall. She never let go of him, even as she leaned slightly to rest her head on his shoulder.

“Deke convinced me I need to tell you everything.”

About a dozen emotions hit Fitz at once, including, nonsensically, a flare of jealousy. He tamped down all of them. He was far too tired of _feeling_ , lately. 

“Tell me what?” he finally asked, trying to sound as stable as possible. 

“How are you doing today?” Jemma responded, squeezing his hand.

Fitz shook his head, refusing to be sidetracked and refusing to let her deflect or stall. “Tell me what?”

She took a deep breath, exhaled it, then breathed again. “I hope you are doing better. But however you are, just know…you can take as much time as you need, but know you’re going to be fine. You have to be. You’re going to be a father.”

Fitz pushed off the wall, twisting to face Jemma. There was no chance of stopping the emotions then. The most overwhelming of them all was sheer terror, but there was a dangerous little tendril of hope too. Maybe things eventually would be OK. Jemma smiled at him, lowering one hand to her stomach. Fitz exhaled roughly, blinked and placed his own hand on top of hers. They stayed there for a moment, until all the little niggling doubts, all the ways he could hurt or fail Jemma and the baby, all the ways he already had ruined everything, began to creep into his mind. She seemed to note the change in him, and she spoke again.

“And you already are a grandfather,” she said, nodding in the direction that Deke had gone when he left.

“Oh,” Fitz mumbled. And then a moment later, it hit. “Wait, what?!”

**Author's Note:**

> Imagine this is some time in the near future where Coulson is back on base, OK?!
> 
> I might write an actual fic with the visits that Fitz thinks about here. I have an idea for another fic first, so that will get priority in my limited writing time.


End file.
